


Nibel Stew

by AppleSharon



Series: Slice of Clack one-shots [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slice of Clack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleSharon/pseuds/AppleSharon
Summary: Nearly everything that could be considered a Nibelheim dish was a soup or a stew — something warm to stave off the cold.Curling his fingers to protect them while holding the meat in place, he carefully began slicing the strip into smaller cubes. Zack’s arms snaked around his midsection once more, but Cloud’s hand was steady.“Don’t they teach you not to approach a man with a knife in SOLDIER?” Cloud joked. He leaned in to Zack's warmth.Zack rubbed his cheek against Cloud’s. “Wasn’t paying attention that day. Didn’t think it applied to humans. Only tonberries.”Written for the Slice of Clack event. Prompt: Celebration. Cloud takes Zack home well after the Nibelheim incident to celebrate his birthday.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Series: Slice of Clack one-shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812355
Comments: 2
Kudos: 79
Collections: Slice of Clack: July 2020





	Nibel Stew

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second in a series for the [Slice of Clack 2020 Event!](https://sliceofclack.carrd.co/#schedule)
> 
> The first, [Kalm-style Vegetable Soup in Junon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027210) is a sickfic with Zack taking care of Cloud. 
> 
> All will be related to Cloud and Zack sharing meals together. ^ ^

Cloud’s hand trembled. He lowered it from where it had been — millimetres away from rapping his knuckles against the door. 

Damn muscle memory. There wasn’t anyone to answer the door anymore. 

The wind whistled in his ears, knocking a small chip of paint from where it had been peeling away from the door, just under where Cloud had been about to knock. 

His hand was caught and pressed immediately between Zack’s gloves. They were cold from the wind and snow and Cloud jumped at the contact before intertwining his fingers with Zack’s. Reaching forward, he held their right hands over the doorknob. 

“We’ll do it together,” Zack said. 

Cloud nodded. “Together…”

He had thought that the door would creak loudly, like it had when he was a child. He had braced himself for it and he knew Zack could feel his body tense, but the door didn’t make a sound. 

It opened out towards them, gliding over the snow silently.

***

Growing up, no one in Nibelheim had locked their doors. There had been no reason to — not when everyone in town knew everyone and they so rarely had visitors outside of the occasional Nibel wolf that made its way into town.

A door locked or unlocked wouldn’t matter to a wolf. All you needed was the door itself. 

Leaving the door unlocked was another detail that Shinra had managed to get right in their painstaking recreation of Nibelheim as it was, minus the people who had actually lived there. Claudia Strife’s house was intact. It looked just as it had when Cloud had lived in it. 

Now that he was, more or less, in the right state of mind to process the house’s existence, the accuracy stunned him.

Zack hovered in the doorway, watching him with a somber expression that Cloud wanted to physically wipe off of his face. Cloud wondered if Zack was afraid that he would slip into a memory — it didn’t happen nearly as often now, but this would certainly be the right timing for one, if something like that existed — or simply remembering the first time they had come here together for a meal, back when Claudia was alive. 

Back when all Cloud had wanted to do was introduce Zack to his mother. 

Before Sephiroth had burned the town to the ground. 

He placed the sack of groceries onto the kitchen counter. They were fortunate it was so cold outside. The meat and vegetables had kept through their journey.

Cloud ran his hand lightly over the small dining table and was somewhat surprised that they came away with dust clinging to his fingertips. The furnace seemingly remained lit at all times, enough to keep the pipes from freezing at least, and he had expected someone to dust.

Now that he really thought about it, Cloud had no idea who was keeping up Nibelheim. The people who lived there? Shinra remnants?

He made a note to ask Reeve about it when he had the time. 

Cloud felt Zack’s chin against the top of his head. He leaned into the touch, humming happily as Zack’s arms wound around his waist. 

“I thought it would be…” 

“Better?” Zack’s voice caught on the word. “We can go anytime. Just say the word.”

Cloud turned and stared into Zack’s eyes. Slowly he shook his head, watching as Zack’s sad smile fell into a confused frown. 

“Worse,” Cloud said, holding his hand out. Zack immediately grabbed it and squeezed so tightly it was painful. He didn’t tell Zack to stop. 

“I thought it would be worse,” Cloud repeated. “I’m okay.”

Zack nodded mouth stretching into one of his wide smiles as he pressed a fierce kiss to his forehead. 

He squirmed and smiled up at Zack shyly. “Let’s make you some birthday stew.”

***

Cloud still didn’t know why he had suddenly wanted to return home and make Zack Nibel stew for his birthday. He had always enjoyed it as a kid, and kept the few scraps of memories of his mother’s Nibel stew close to his heart, but had never really bought into the tradition of it all, or any hometown tradition.

His thoughts were interrupted by Zack sniffling loudly, tears streaming down his face.

“I told you that I’d cut the onions,” Cloud said.  
Zack let out a particularly loud sniff. “It’s fibe.”

Laughing, Cloud shook his head and turned his attention back to the dried strips of seasoned Zuu meat he had carefully laid out onto the cutting board. 

Nibel stew was something that everyone in Nibelheim had on their birthdays. Every family had a different seasoning recipe, but the Zuu meat was the key ingredient. Somehow, dried Zuu meat rehydrated like a mushroom, making it perfect for prolonged storage through the winter months to be used in a variety of Nibelheim soups and stews. 

Nearly everything that could be considered a Nibelheim dish was a soup or a stew — something warm to stave off the cold. 

Curling his fingers to protect them while holding the meat in place, he carefully began slicing the strip into smaller cubes. Zack’s arms snaked around his midsection once more, but Cloud’s hand was steady. 

“Don’t they teach you not to approach a man with a knife in SOLDIER?” Cloud joked, leaning into Zack's warmth. 

He could feel Zack’s eyes on him, studying his face to see if he was still somehow sad about not making it into the elite program, despite years of insisting that it hardly mattered.

After everything, it really didn’t matter. 

Zack rubbed his cheek against Cloud’s. “Wasn’t paying attention that day. Didn’t think it applied to humans. Only tonberries.”

Cloud snorted. The Zuu meat seasoned and chopped, he turned on the gas burner and watched it intently while placing a large pot of water on top of it. 

“So you use the meat for the stock?” Zack asked.

“Half of it. The other half goes in with the stew itself—“ Cloud’s voice pitched upward as Zack lightly snagged Cloud’s earlobe between his teeth and began to suck on it. 

“Zack…”

“Mhmmm”

Zack nibbled his way to Cloud’s mouth. Cloud sighed as Zack nipped at his bottom lip, teasing his mouth open.

“It will burn,” Cloud gasped, licking tentatively into Zack’s mouth before he was pulled into the kiss.

“We wouldn’t want that.” Zack’s voice was husky as he pulled away, panting into Cloud’s mouth for a moment longer before smugly licking his own lips. His voice vibrated against Cloud’s skin. 

“Where do you want these onions and garlic that I chopped up?”

Cloud groaned and stepped backwards, brandishing his chef’s knife at Zack without malice. “I still have a knife.”

“On my birthday?!” Zack placed a head over his heart with a melodramatic sigh. “You wouldn’t kill me on my birthday, Cloudy. Not after we came all this way to make Nibel stew.”

“Put the onions and garlic in that saucepan with some oil,” Cloud grumbled, shifting visibly to hide the sudden discomfort that his partner had caused. 

Zack looked down at Cloud’s crotch, noticed, and winked.

***

“Do you remember our first meal together?” Zack asked as they filled their bowls from the stovetop and walked to the table.

Cloud nodded. “In the cafeteria. The regular mess. You wanted… curry bread.”

“No, in Junon,” Zack said, shaking his head as he sat down next to Cloud. It was just the two of them and although the table was small, Cloud was happy to have Zack close and not seated across from him. 

“You were sick and I brought you takeaway.”

“Hnn… so you’re not counting the mess hall?”

“Of course I’m not counting it!” Zack shovelled a spoonful of stew into his mouth. “That could hardly be considered food. Also holy shit this is good!”

Narrowing his eyes, Cloud studied Zack’s face for any hints that he was joking, but Zack met Cloud’s look with his usual guileless smile. 

“Really,” Zack said a bit more softly. “It’s good. Thanks, Cloud.”

Cloud smiled back and tried a sip from his own bowl. 

It was rich and warm and too salty. 

It wasn’t as good as his mother’s. 

It was somehow perfect. 

“Happy birthday, Zack.”

**Author's Note:**

> If someone moderating the event is reading this, I don't have a Tumblr or Twitter associated with this account but wouldn't mind if this was reposted to either as part of the project or put in the Zine as long as it's credited to this Ao3 account. I'm just doing this for fun/inspiration. ^ ^


End file.
